


altitude

by flowerhyunjins



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Based on a Dream, M/M, angst kinda, jinyoung is that guy across the hall, markson are married, youngjae is broke, yugbam are their kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 14:58:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14263554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerhyunjins/pseuds/flowerhyunjins
Summary: home is where the heart is, but to youngjae, home is where jaebum is





	1. Chapter 1

footsteps raced down the hall. shouts were heard from the end of the hall youngjae was running away from.

well, not exactly running, he was _flying_.

being a shape shifter had its ups and downs. getting to be a bird or whatever animal you could was cool, but being hunted down by the government special unit called the division?

_yeah, he'll pass on that._

so he his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest as he literally runs for his life. he managed to get himself out of the medical wing to the main wing though, where he finds an exit.

the problem? there was a whole party celebrating the success of their 4th wing opening, and the alarms were starting to give him a headache.

being a griffon vulture, he broke straight through the glass doors, averting a lot of attention towards him. everyone in the circular garden had their eyes towards the broken glass door and the odd bird amongst the shards of glass on the floor. there was no ceiling, so when youngjae saw that the guards were starting to move towards him, he bolted straight up, the only way out. he was in the air, and he didn't know where he was, or where to go, all he knew was to get out of there, and so he did. he never looked back, and just kept going until he found a city that seemed safe enough to land in.

his type of bird shouldn't really be seen amongst human civilization, so he tried his best to keep his presence discreet as he landed himself in an alley to shift into his human form. he hid behind a dumpster to avoid prying eyes out in the streets in front of the alley.

he returned to his human form. he fixed his disheveled strawberry blonde hair, trying to ignore the dull pain in his right arm when he moved it up after being restrained for so long. then, he walked out of the alley, trying to blend in to avoid suspicion. he felt his pockets for anything he had. it was empty, apart from some money, but it wouldn't be enough to get him home.

speaking of home...where the hell _was_ he?

before he could look around to answer that question, a rush of hunger swept over him like a tidal wave. he checked the amount of money he had, and it was just enough to get him some gimbap, but how's he going to find any?

just as that question crossed his mind, a group of guys heading down the opposite way of where he was walking grabbed him by the shirt and pulled into yet another alley.

_shit, why is it always an alley?_

the tight, rough grip on his shirt was, well, uncomfortable. one of them had their hand over his mouth, so he couldn't scream out for help. his head hit the brick walls, then from there, everything was blurry, but he felt every blow to ever part of his body, and it hurt like hell. he couldn't make out their faces, but he just prayed to god they weren't sent by the division.

youngjae blacked out right after, he was just glad he didn't have to feel the pain anymore.

~

he woke up to two unfamiliar faces peering down at him.

_what the fuck?_

his heart sped up as he instinctively tried to attack them. he bolted up into a sitting position, frightened by the strangers. were they the ones who hurt him?

"hey, you okay?" one of them (the blonde one?) asked.

"what the fuck?" youngjae whispered, mostly to himself.

"calm down, we're not going to hurt you," the second one said.

"why should i believe you?"

"well," the first one started, a soft smile playing on his lips. "you never really know until you try."

youngjae stayed silent at this. the two strangers looked at each other, then the second one outstretched his hand towards him, but youngjae flinched.

the outstretched hand turned into one to take. "the name's mark tuan. i wont hurt you. are you alright? what happened to you?"

youngjae cautiously took it. "choi youngjae. some guys beat me up. i don't know who or why."

"where does it hurt?"

youngjae didn't respond, because everything ached and he couldn't really pinpoint an exact place. he lifted his shirt up, exposing some bruises starting to form on his stomach. his arm ached even more than before, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest everytime he took a breath in.

"do i look that bad?" youngjae asked, not knowing what he looked like right now.

"well, no. your face is fine, but it looks like you took some pretty hard hits to your shoulder," not-mark informed him.

youngjae glanced down to look at his shoulder blades, and sure enough, a bruise was blooming there. he started to feel most of the pain kick in, and he groaned out.

"alright, you cant stay here," mark declared, "we're taking you home."

"what? no, wait, ill be o-"

"nonsense. you need medical attention."

youngjae shut up again. he let the two of them help him up as they supported him all the way home. during the walk, the blonde told him his name was jackson wang, which youngjae kept in mind. they got a few strange and concerned looks along the street, but no one made any moves. they soon arrived at mark and jackson's townhouse though, and youngjae had never been so glad to be away from the public.

"jackson, take him to the room upstairs, across jinyoung. don't alert the kids. i don't need them bothering us right now." mark reminded him sternly.

"i wont," jackson rolled his eyes, then proceeded to help youngjae upstairs.

when they got to the room, it was better than what youngjae expected. it was clean, simple, and modern. jackson told him to sit on the bed, so he did. he rummaged through the drawers before pulling out a tube of what seemed to be pain relieving cream. if youngjae didn't lie, he almost forgot those existed.

"you need help putting it on, or are you gonna be fine?" jackson asked, handing him the tube of cream.

"i'll be fine," youngjae said, "thanks."

"no problem. stay as long as you want, okay?" jackson smiled, then left youngjae to himself.

 _okay. three names already. mark. jackson. jinyoung. also, more than one kid in this house._ he hasn't seen jinyoung yet, and it scared him, but poked at his curiosity too.

he removed his shirt and started dabbing some of the medicine onto his skin. some of the bruises didn't hurt when he touched them, but others just hurt so bad he almost winced out loud.

suddenly, just as he was done, a knock came at the door, with marks voice following shortly after. "you doing okay? have you eaten?"

"i'm fine," youngjae called back. "i...haven't eaten, but thats al-"

"jackson we need another plate!" mark called out before youngjae could finish his statement.

"mark, im fine, rea-"

"shh. it's our pleasure to help you," mark tells him, then youngjae heard him leave.

youngjae almost felt bad over how much mark and jackson were aiding him, but then he didn't exactly agree to most of this. he just decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

~

later that night, after dinner, youngjae finally met jinyoung for the first time. the guy was very nice, and mature, so youngjae took an instant liking to him. also, mark and jacksons kids, yugyeom and bambam, if not annoying, were very delightful to have around. mark was done with all their antics, to which jackson joined in with and ended up getting smacked by mark. youngjae found the way their family worked very entertaining.

mark and jackson adopted the two of of them 3 months after their marriage. yugyeom refused to leave bambam, and vice versa, so instead of seeing the two part from each other, they took the both of them, and they never really regretted that decision.

the only problem? they were both very nosy.

"so, where did hyung come from?" yugyeom asked, eyes glistening with curiosity.

youngjae managed a smile and said, "new york. have you been there?"

yugyeom gasped. "no! what's it like, hyung? is it like it is in the movies?"

youngjae laughed, "well, i guess it is."

"cool!" bambam exclaimed, then quickly changed the topic. "how did hyung get those bruises? they look painful. is hyung okay?"

youngjae nodded. "i'm okay. thanks for asking."

bambam grinned. "no problem! appa always says it's nice to ask people how they are."

"which one's your appa?"

yugyeom pointed to mark. "appa," then pointed to jackson, "dad."

"ah, i see."

"gyeomie? bambam? it's getting late," jackson called out.

"coming!" yugyeom responded. "you're very cool! hyung, are you staying for the night?"

"i guess i am," youngjae replied.

"yay!" bambam grinned, "we'll see you in the morning! goodnight!"

youngjae waved. "goodnight."

once they left with jackson, mark sat with him in the living room as they shared a plate of cookies together.

"the kids seem to like you," he commented, "what did you guys talk about?"

youngjae shrugged. "not much. they asked where i was from, what happened to me. those kind of things."

"ah," mark nodded, "so they haven't prodded into your personal life yet."

"...yet?"

11pm. jackson and mark were knocked out in their room. jinyoung came by half an hour ago to tell him goodnight, and the kids should've been asleep an hour and a half ago. youngjae figured the whole house was asleep, apart from him, so he changed figures. once the process was done, he perched himself on top of the shirt hangers to get himself on the same level as the mirror. he outstretched one of his wings and— oh fucking hell, that hurt like a bitch. he's gonna have to get that fixed somehow.

when he changed back, he heard a soft gasp come from the door, and he snapped his head to the direction it came from. there was a slight crease in the door where it was opened, but he swore he closed it before he shifted. he closed it though, wondering how the hell that just happened. however he paid no mind, as he felt the exhaustion of today wash over him. he slid into bed, curling up under the covers.

he silently wished jaebum was here to hug him, because he couldn't help but feel so cold without his warmth.


	2. Chapter 2

youngjae woke up the next morning to the sound of yugyeom and bambam yelling the word "easy" around the house, and the delicious smell of breakfast.

he almost forgot that he and jaebum did not magically have 2 loud kids in the middle of the night, and that it also was not jaebum making breakfast.

that second part hurt him a lot.

he sluggishly got off the bed. the bedsheets felt foreign to him, unlike the ones he usually slept on at home. he checked the time; 9:43am. that was oddly early for him.

he looked at himself in the mirror. he was still wearing what he did yesterday. a pile of neatly folded clothes on the desk caught his eye. there was a note in top of it that read "hope it fits you~ —jinyoung", making youngjae smile to himself. that was very thoughtful of him.

then he hears the kids come up and knock on jinyoungs door, telling him breakfast was ready. he figured they would enter his room next, so he pretended to do something as they slowly opened the door and peered in.

"um, we just wanted to tell hyung that breakfast is ready downstairs," bambam said, voice almost a whisper.

"i'll be there soon," youngjae responded.

bambam and yugyeom, who youngjae presumed were behind him, then quickly scurried downstairs in a hurry. youngjae merely huffed out a laugh at their behaviour. he quickly changed into the hoodie and sweatpants jinyoung lent him, feeling the soft fabric slide over him. he exited the room, ruffling his hair. seconds later, jinyoung left too, catching him in the hallway.

"oh, hey," jinyoung smiled, "youngjae right? how're you feeling?"

"good," youngjae smiled back, “what about you, hyung?”

"i've been better," jinyoung told him, “thanks for asking.”

youngjae nodded. they went down the stairs together, and todays breakfast went by well. it was a sunday today, and jinyoung didn't really have anything to do, so he asked youngjae if he wanted to walk around the city together later that day. youngjae accepted the invitation.

“hyungs, can we come too?!" yugyeom asked.

"gyeomie, leave them be," jackson scolded.

"no, it's perfectly fine," jinyoung reassured him.

"see dad!" bambam exclaimed, sticking his tongue out at his dad.

"bam, that's not nice," yugyeom frowned, hitting his brother's arm.

bambam sighed, then reluctantly apologized. in the end, jinyoung and youngjae ended up taking both youngjae and bambam with them. somewhere in the middle, jinyoung and bambam got hungry, so they stopped at a restaurant to get some food. jinyoung went to go order some food as youngjae found a vacant table with bambam and yugyeom.

"yugyeom, bambam, can i ask you both a question?" youngjae asked.

yugyeom visibly tensed up, giving bambam a guilty and worried look, but responded with a cautious, "y-yeah?"

"do you know where we are right now?"

"a restaurant?"

"no, i meant the state," youngjae clarified, "are we close to new york?"

"well, we aren't in new york, but we’re not far either. my teacher said new york is somewhere up there,” bambam replied, pointing upwards.

youngjae laughs at his cuteness, “alright. i’m guessing its pennsylvania.”

“yeah! penn- pennsyla- penn—”

“pennsylvania,” youngjae repeated slowly, “that’s how you say it, gyeom.“

“pennsylvania, got it, hyung!” yugyeom grinned.

after a while of waiting, also known as yugyeom and bambam chattering away while youngjae gave jinyoung multiple looks that screamed _“hurry the fuck up dude, i cant handle these kids on my own”_ , bambam turned to youngjae and asked softly, “youngjae-hyung…do you own a bird?”

_oh. fuck._

“a-a bird?” youngjae stuttered, “no.”

“oh,” bambam nodded, “is hyung a bird?”

youngjae’s brain screamed run, because they were kids, and they wouldn’t understand the magnitude of their actions if they were to ever tell anybody, but the circumstances were the same. if he stayed, he’d die. if he left, he’d die too.

“yugyeom. bambam. do you know what shape shifters are?” youngjae asked first. the two shook their heads in response, “well, they’re people who can turn into animals when they want to. some of them are special, and can change into anything they want.”

“is hyung a shape shifter?”

“before i tell you the answer, will you promise not to tell anybody?”

“of course!” bambam quickly responded. “wait…what about our appa and dad?”

“you can tell them, but tell me first, okay?”

“okay!”

“i am,” youngjae revealed.

yugyeom frowned, “when hyung first came here, i saw hyung checking his wing. was hyung hurt?”

youngjae smiled at yugyeom’s concern. “yeah, but i’ll be fine.”

“hey guys,” jinyoung greeted with a tray of food. “gyeom, bam, eat up. i’ll talk to youngjae-hyung for a while okay?”

“grown up talk?”

“kind of. just go eat first, okay?”

“okay, hyung.“

when the kids were distracted with food, jinyoung turned to youngjae. “you’re the griffon vulture they’re looking for?”

“how’d you know i was a griffon vulture?”

“my dad works in the government. deals with your type of cases. i’ve always been against him, but i couldn’t change him,” jinyoung explained, “youngjae, listen. everyone’s looking for you. it’s not safe for you to be so close to virginia.”

“i know.”

“you said you lived in new york?”

youngjae nodded.

“that’s far enough to lose them. they usually give up after 2 weeks, or a month if the subject was valuable. try to stay safe for that long, okay?”

“why are you against your dad?” youngjae asked, out of curiosity.

“i practice witchcraft,” jinyoung revealed. “yeah, magic and potions and shit you know. my room’s a mess because of it. my dad would probably kill me for it, you know, what i am and what i do.”

youngjae softly smiles, as jinyoung distictly reminds him of a friend who had the same ability as he did.

“mark-hyung and jackson-hyung don’t question you?”

“they know about it, and they’re helping me hide,“ jinyoung told him, “they’ll do the same when the kids tell them about you being a shape shifter and all.”

“they don’t discourage it do they?” youngjae asked again worriedly.

“nah,“ jinyoung smiled, “jackson’s dad is just like you, but a fox. you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

youngjae nodded in understanding (remebering that jaebum was a wolf), then they both joined the kids to eat their lunch. he wonders if jackson was a shape shifter too. weren’t the abilities genetical?

youngjae never really got to prove that for himself. his parents both disappeared before he even got to see or remember their faces. the division took them, of course. ever since then, a family friend of his, kim seokjin, took him in and raised him. by the second he could legally move out, he did, because he didn’t want to be a burden to them any longer. not that he said that.

he moved out in his second year of college. got an apartment, met jaebum in college, then things escalated and the next thing he knows is that they’re graduating together with all their friends.

and shit, did he miss all that.

the fact that he almost ended up the way his parents did dawned on him, and it dumped a whole bucket of nostalgia and sadness over him. _what if he never got to see jaebum again? what if his last words to seokjin would remain as something meaningless for the rest of his life? what if—_

“you okay there?” jinyoung whispered in his ear, full of concern, snapping youngjae out of his thoughts.

youngjae sighed, “i’m fine.”

lunch ended quickly. youngjae and jinyoung then headed home with the kids, where they hoped mark and jackson weren’t getting too intimate with each other. thankfully, they weren’t. mark was doing the dishes, and jackson was half asleep, sprawled on the couch. he wakes up to bambam’s pterodactyl screeching though, accompanied by yugyeoms screaming. jinyoung offered to do the dishes, and he was insistent, so mark let him as he went to join jackson, youngjae, and his kids in the living room.

“so, hyung, i think bambam and yugyeom have something important to tell you,“ youngjae said.

jackson raised an eyebrow at the two. “you do? what is it?”

bambam and yugyeom looked at youngjae for confirmation. when youngjae nodded, they started telling their parents all about what happened and what they saw. jackson looked particularly concerned at the fact that they were invading youngjaes privacy, but when youngjae shook his head at jackson’s angry expression, he softened up and listened to bambam and yugyeom explaining everything, youngjae helping them with their words along the way.

“so, he’s just like your grandpa,” mark smiled.

the two kids nodded. youngjae tried to make himself seem smaller, out of anxiety, maybe. who knows. he just felt like he needed to get out of there. as if on cue, jinyoung, who went to his room after the dishes were done, came out of his room to call youngjae upstairs to ask for ‘help’.

youngjae excused himself and left the family alone before going to meet jinyoung. the man pulled him into his room quickly, and shut the door, slightly confusing youngjae.

“i could tell you were uncomfortable there, so i pulled you up here,” jinyoung clarified.

“oh,” youngjae responded, not even questioning how, “thanks.”

“no problem,” jinyoung said.

after that, he let youngjae do whatever he wanted. this was the first time youngjae’s ever been in his room, and it was extremely overwhelming. the feeling of curiosity, fear, and excitement took over him as he looked aroud.

jinyoung laughed nervously. “sorry, it’s a shipwreck. i’ve been trying to sort my things out for a while but i never seem to be able to do so.”

youngjae turned to him. “i could help you.”

“what? no, it’s fine. i dont want to bo—“

“hey, you’ve done a lot for me. the least i can do is help you clean your room so jackson wont yell at you again,” youngjae smiled.

jinyoung hesitated, before giving in and sighing, “okay. thanks youngjae.”

despite jinyoung’s words, firmly stating that _“this room is impossible to sort out”_ , the two boys got the place to look a lot neater in under 20 minutes, which fascinated jinyoung, because if the two of them too 20 minutes, then he’d take 40 minutes, but the last time he tried to clean his room, he spent 2 hours and it still looked like someone let an elephant throw a tantrum in there.

“boxes,” jinyoung stated, realizing his mistake of not sorting his things out into boxes.

“boxes,” youngjae confirmed, nodding. “i’ll leave you to yourself now.”

“wait,” jinyoung stopped him, “i-i heard the kids say your wing was hurt. can i help?”

youngjae slowly nodded. “yeah. sure.”

so that’s how youngjae ended up getting his wing fixed, and jinyoung getting a neat room.


	3. Chapter 3

“youngjae.”

“jackson.”

“i love you.”

“in a friendly way?”

“of course. i’m married to mark, for christ’s sake. we have two kids.”

“right.”

youngjae and jackson sat at the dining table one late night. jackson, a cup of coffee in his hands. youngjae, some soda. jackson couldn’t sleep, and so did youngjae, and they both coincidentally met when they went to get some water from the kitchen. youngjae first asked jackson why he was awake, and when he responded with an “i cant sleep”, youngjae told him the same thing.

that’s how they were both awake at 2am as they deliriously talked about nothing.

"i'm guessing jinyoung's told you about my dad," jackson said, "also, he told me about your wing. i'm sorry about that, but you can stay here until it heals.”

"t-thanks," youngjae whispered.

"if it means you'll live for another day, it's my pleasure," jackson smiled.

after a good half an hour of meaningless conversation, jackson went to sleep, despite drinking 2 cups of coffee. youngjae guessed that caffeine doesn't really have an effect on him. youngjae fell asleep that night with a newfound sense of security in the foreign household.

~

“hyung!” yugyeom said.

youngjae’s eyes fluttered open. when they were met by the all too familiar face of yugyeom peering down at him, he got paranoid over the fact that there was someone else in his room. he shot up off his bed, almost hitting yugyeom, but thankfully the 7 year old moved out of the way just in time.

“h-how did you get in my room?” he asked, bewildered.

yugyeom held up a pin that he had used to pick the lo— wait, what the fuck?

_a 7 year old picked the lock of his room?_

“who taught you to do that?“

“bambam.”

“who taught bambam to do that?“

yugyeom took a while, before he shrugged. “appa wanted me to tell you to meet him and dad downstairs.”

“app— oh, mark hyung. okay. i’ll be right there,” youngjae told him, calming himself down.

so youngjae got dressed, putting on more of the clothes jinyoung lent him (like shit, how big is this guy’s closet?), and slipped on the stairs on the way down. jackson rushed over to him in concern, but youngjae assured him he was fine, even though he probably slightly sprained his ankle. at the table, mark gave him his food, which he gratefully ate away at. jinyoung left soon after to go to work, and everyone waved at him. after he left, youngjae finished his food, and did the dishes instead of jackson, who mark had to argue with in the early hours of the morning to do so.

“youngjae,” mark started, “so we figured we’re going to help you get home. if you take public transportation the division might get you, so we figured it’d be safer through the skies.”

“you mean…i’ll have to fly home?“ youngjae cocked his head to the side.

“well, yeah,“ mark explained, “it’ll keep you safe, even though it might be exhausting. we’ll help you though. the things that you carry as a human stay there even after you turn into your bird right?”

youngjae nodded. “when am i supposed to leave?”

“we thought next week, but we’d miss you too much. so, whenever you want, really. of course, when you get better.“

youngjae smiled. “thanks hyung.”

“no problem,”

~

a week and a half. that’s how long youngjae spent healing.

in that amount of time, he’s grown attached to bambam and yugyeom like they were his own kids. he and jinyoung became like brothers, and mark and jackson loved him like their own son. jackson’s dad dropped by at one point, and he took him to a nearby national forest to run around. at first, youngjae refused, traumatized after what happened in the past, but he reluctantly agreed, thinking this would be a good experience for him. it really was, and he came home that night with a smile he couldn’t wipe off.

eventually, the day when he had to leave came. youngjae has nothing in his arms, just a leaf from the national forest in his pocket to remind him of pennsylvania and the new family he’s made here. he stands in front of the front door, facing mark, jackson, bambam, yugyeom, and jinyoung.

“hyung? where are you going?” bambam asked, concern present in his eyes.

youngjae gave him a sad smile, “i’ll have to go for a while now…”

“you’ll come back, right?” yugyeom said, a tint of hope in his voice.

“of course. you have my promise.” youngjae sticks out his pinky finger.

the two boys linked their fingers together to finalize their promise. jinyoung is quietly sniffling in the back, but when he sees that mark is obviously crying at youngjae’s interaction with his kids, he let the tears freely flow.

youngjae breaks down as well, rushing forward to tackle all of them in a bear hug. he’s going to miss them a lot, but he promises to visit every time he can.

“thank you for saving my life, and being there for me when i felt so alone,” he cried, “i love you guys.”

“we love you too, youngjae,” jackson said, rubbing his back. “jaebum must be worried about you. don’t keep him waiting any longer sweetie.”

youngjae sniffled, pulling away, “i’ll visit soon. i promise. i wont say goodbye.”

jinyoung nods, eyes puffy, “okay, youngjae. be safe please.”

youngjae nodded. he opened the door, exposing the morning, quiet pennsylvania street in front of him. he turns to his family one last time, before waving, and setting off for the skies.

he’d see them again. that was a promise.

~

“seokjin hyung!” youngjae yelled.

there was a loud, audible crash from inside the house, and rapid footsteps descending down the stairs before the door was thrown open by his brother, seokjin.

seokjin gasped, and covered his mouth before he could scream and attract the attention of more people. he grabbed youngjae’s sleeve and dragged him into his house, hitting him on the head with some newspaper he had lying on the table.

“you’re so stupid! how could you go missing like that! hold on, _i’m stupid_ , i’m a wizard who cant fortune tell for his life! fucking hell, we all thought you were dead! my god youngjae! you’re _alive_! this is amazing! jaebum must be thrilled!” seokjin screamed.

“that’s the thing,” youngjae grinned, “he would, but i’m so scared to face him.”

“is it just me or have you grown stupider since you went missing? what did they do to you? extract some iq?”

youngjae laughed, “hyung, no. i really need to get to jaebum somehow.”

“surprise surprise,” seokjin winked.

seokjin then grabbed his phone out of his back pocket, dialing a number that youngjae recognized like he knew the back of his palm. after a few rings, jaebum picked up, his voice a groggy and worn out “hello?”

“jaebum-ah?” seokjin spoke, voice cheerful.

“did something happen?”

“um, yes?!” seokjin screeched.

“it cant possibly be that good,” jaebum sighed.

“honey, get your ass to my house now. you’ll see it,” seokjin ordered.

“fine,” jaebum growled, then hung up.

when jaebum really did physically get there, the first thing he said was, “youngjae. this is his scent, but it’s differ— hyung, _what did you do_.”

seokjin didn’t respond, but jaebum had already rushed into the living room to find youngjae on the couch, playing with the leaf he saved. he shot up to meet jaebum’s gaze. jaebum’s expression showed a mixture of, what, sadness? relief? anger? happiness? the world may never know, but what they will know, is that the next thing jaebum did was hug youngjae, crying into his shoulder.

“jesus fuck,” he wailed, “you’re here. _you’re really here_. you’re real and you’re okay and you’re you and you’re still so perfect. i miss you so much, i love you so much, oh my god.”

youngjae hugged back, rubbing his back to help him calm down, remembering the way mark did the same before he left. “i’m here jaebummie. you wont lose me ever again, i promise.”

“ew,” seokjin grimaced.

“h-hey,” jaebum hiccuped, turning to face seokjin, “d-don’t say that like we didn’t catch you and n-namjoon fucking once.“

youngjae bursted out laughing as seokjin gasped in disbelief, “you just had a whole mental breakdown and the _moment_ you see a chance to roast me, you take it. i will disown you and ban you from seeing my brother, im jaebum.”

jaebum laughs, but it comes out like a strained giggle after crying, “i still love you, hyung. i’ll always be your future brother in law. love me.”

seokjin rolled his eyes, “whatever. go catch up, i’ll be downstairs.”

“you don’t wanna join us?”

“first, i’ve done so in the 30 minutes you took to get here. second, i don’t need to be third wheeling,” seokjin responded.

“suit yourself,” youngjae called back.

that afternoon, jaebum and youngjae took it as the time to catch up. jaebum told him about how everyone was so worried, especially hoseok, who wouldn’t come out of his room for days. youngjae told him about mark, jackson, bambam, and yugyeom. jaebum got concerned when youngjae got to the part about jinyoung, but relaxed when youngjae told him the guy was probably a hardcore asexual and aromantic. in the end of it all, jaebum is glad youngjae found friends, and people who loved him along the way, so he knew youngjae wasn’t completely alone.

“take me to them someday.”

“i will.”


End file.
